What Job’s to be Done?

I believe that people definitely think like this. As with many of the tools of experience modeling, the jobs-to-be-done concept simplifies the processes of a persona to the point where a business attempting to generate value can know where they fit in amongst a world of other options. That comparative feature is what separates this practice from other simplifying tools.

In order to answer this simplified problem of needs and jobs-to-be-done, a designer must assess the users current solution to the problem. Being able to meet these minimum requirements is crucial for creating a high value offering, and adhering to an existing offering’s value set is often the best starting point. From here the question of “how might I do this better?” is again answered by centering around the pain points or design builds the user has with or for their current solution over most of the impulses of the designer. Only once these two baselines are established should the designer interrogate the whole of the problem with their design preference.

In my daily life, I employ podcasts to stop my brain from daydreaming while i’m doing work. This minor distraction allows be to be less focused on what I am missing while I’m doing my work with the outside possibility that I might passively learn something. A primary pain-point however, is that finding the right podcast to listen to can be difficult. It needs to be engaging enough to occupy errant thoughts but less engaging than the next task I can complete of my work, which leaves a narrow range of dry, intellectual radio. Fun?